Bitbit, Duenas top Danao Revolution

DANAO, BOHOL – Former Philippine mountainbike team member Maritess Bitbit and top Cebuano runner John Phillip Duenas dominated their respective divisions in yesterday’s Rebel Trails Duathlon of the Danao Revolution 2012, which started at the town’s municipal hall and ended at the Danao Eco-Adventure Tourism Park.

Bitbit, who used to compete in duathlon and triathlon as part of her cross training, crossed the finish line ahead of her opponents despite getting lost along the off-road trail. She clocked three hours, 28 minutes and 46 seconds to win the female elite title.

Duenas, on the other hand, survived a close fight to the finish line against top duathlete Elmo Clarabal to clinch the male elite title.

Despite getting lost for about three kilometers, Clarabal caught up with Duenas in the last few kilometers of the final 10-kilometer run and sprinted to what he thought was already the finish line.

However, the finish line was further ahead and Duenas was able to pull ahead of a tiring Clarabal and cross the finish line first.

Duenas clocked 2:48:06 while Clarabal was just 19 seconds behind. Completing the top 3 in the elite male contest was Emmanuel Comendador with a time of 2:50:33.

Finishing second to Bitbit was Bohol native Aileen Dequina, who crossed the finish line in 4:00:41 while third place went to Whreachelle Cordova, who had a time of 4:02:03.

Trail running queen Merlita Arias Dunkin finished at fourth place with a time of 4:55:16.

Aside from getting lost, Dunkin was also left behind in the biking section as she is new to the discipline.

Another top triathlete who didn’t have much luck in the event was Rochelle Tan, who had to quit the race after she sprained her right ankle when she slipped after crossing the river during the first 10k run. She said she tried to get up and continue the race but the pain was too much for  her.

Running off with the 19 below title was Ruel Payot Tuyor while the 20-29 title went to Nienobiol Lumay.

Glecirio Torreon ruled the 40-49 class while Tyrone Tan once again reigned supreme in the 40-49 category.

The 50 above title went to Diosdado Escudero while the executive female title went to May Joy Ausejo.

Most of the participants complained that there weren’t enough marshalls to man the race route, which was why so many of the participants got lost.

However, race technical director Marvin Mariano said that was part of the challenge of the event, which was supposed to highlight the exploits of Philippine hero Francisco Dagohoy, who had lived in the area./CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON